Five SG50 Mobile Games Available on 1 July

An SG50 initiative spearheaded by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) has given birth to five local mobile games, reports E27 and Channel News Asia. All five will be released for free on 1 July for iOS and Android devices.

Four of those – Building the Lion, KAN-CHEONG! Kopitiam Saga, My Singapore City and Rickshaw Rush – were selected from over 40 entries after a call for proposals went out in June last year. The internal judging panel included Gumi Asia’s CEO David Ng, Games Solutions Centre management committee member Albert Lim,  Digital Life Editor Oo Gin Lee, and MDA‘s Director of Industry Operations Mr. Joachim Ng,

“Games reach out to a very diverse and wide reach of consumers and more and more people are appreciating playing games and being entertained by games. So if you want to reach out to both young, old and not so old, then games is one platform that is very universal,” says Mr. Ng.

In response to E27’s queries, he goes on to explain that there were no undue pressures placed upon the developers, and that he personally wants to “see these games as wildly played and shared as possible.”

According to the proposal the games had to fulfill certain criteria, such as showcasing Singapore’s culture and heritage, as well as to “foster deeper emotional ties among Singaporeans.”

The fifth game, Satay Club (pictured), missed the proposals deadline but was ultimately volunteered to be part of the program. It didn’t receive funding but does continue to benefit from marketing support.

Mr. Ng tells CNA that the panel was “very confident that local developers could develop high-quality games”, and that how some of them have become as good as any global developers in the world. (Here’s looking at you, Witching Hour Studios.)

Building the Lion, KAN-CHEONG! Kopitiam Saga, My Singapore City, Rickshaw Rush and Satay Club will all be available via the App Store and Google Play on 1 July. We’ll certainly take a look!

[via E27 and Channel News Asia]